SHEILA'S POTPOURRI TWO
According to the old saying, if you have thunder in February it will frost in April. We heard thunder here at our house. We had several days of rain that was not always hard but we needed all the moisture that fell. Thunderstorms were predicted for us but I am happy that they didn’t come in the night. I really like to see the storms that do make it around us.
One morning Beamon went to the beauty shop to get MeLinda to cut his hair. Daughter Pat Scroggins met us and she took Beamon to eat breakfast at IHOP for a late Christmas gift. Jimmy and Cathy Church happenedto be there so that Jimmy could also get a hair cut and he and Beamon visited a few minutes. They worked for Texas Foundry many years.
We are fast approaching Daylight Savings Time. There are just as many for it as against it. I can see both sides because some people want to stay on the old regular schedule while those who have gardens, coach outdoor sports or do not want to go to bed before dark like the change.
On cold and rainy days men with cattle come by our house and if they do not have feed or hay with them for the cows they find some. I am very thankful we do not have any animals that need to eat. In the winter when we were growing, if it was a cloudy cold day as soon as we got home from school we changed clothes and headed outside to do chores. There always were hogs, chickens, cattle and for a while we had a horse so they all needed food supplements.
There were no outside lights to guide you and we had to use flashlights, carbide or kerosene (coal oil) lanterns to see what was happening. We had a fireplace which meant wood and pine knots, or rich lighter splinters needed to be brought closer to the fireplace. When a house is heated almost entirely by wood that meant there needed to be a huge pile of wood to stoke the fire.
Long before we were grown I decided that no house of mine would have a fireplace and I would have no animals to get hungry.
I made myself one more promise that where ever I lived there would be plenty of electric lights in my house so I could see. Thus far I have kept those promises to myself.
Neal Denman had another recall from way back when he was growing up. I.P. Renfro and his young family lived in the big house that is across Main /street from Brookshire Brothers. Mr. Renfro was a cattle man and had horses, too.. He fell heir to a little horse or pony but did not want the animal. I don’t know if he thought it was not going to have enough sense for what he needed.
One of the Denman siblings’ first cousin Burl Simmons was a teenager at the time and Mr. Renfro asked Burl if he wanted the pony. The young boy was thrilled with the gift and as it grew he worked with the little horse teaching it all kinds of tricks. It could bow, count by pawing the ground or could indicate yes or no by shaking his head up or down or sideways. Burl spent lots of time training the horse and anybody that saw the boy and horse were subjected to all the tricks they had practiced. The pony, Burl and Mr. Renfro have all passed on to greater rewards now.
One of those rainy mornings I was checking out at the grocery store as Billy Phillips arrived. We usually talk for a few minutes but I knew Beamon was hungry and waiting for me to do my magic tricks and get food on the table.
When the moisture went away for a bit folks came to McMullen Memorial Library for another book to read. We have had quite a bit of reading time due to the drizzle and cold days with brisk north winds. Dan and Camille Townsend gave a memorial for Billie Herring. Remember memorials, or honorariums, are welcome at the library.
Christal Shaw finally found a good weather weekend to visit her son Neal, Carrie, Colleen and Walker Shaw in Mesquite. She got to see Colleen who is a sophomore, play in a basketball game on Friday night. She scored high during the game and her scores came from outside or offside shooting and makes all her free throws. She is short but makes up for it in her arm and shoulder strength. Walker is playing baseball in a church league and just as their game was over with Colleen, Neal had to hurry with Walker to baseball practice. He is really into baseball and will play as long as his team wins this summer.
Kids nowadays have lots of choices for sports participation. I well remember when we were in grade school, we girls played softball or volleyball and the boys played baseball. We knew nothing about football because basketball dominated our thoughts of competitive play. At recess we headed out to the baseball or softball field which was an unleveled playing field. If we had rain there were holes of water or mud to watch carefully. We had to keep our school clothes clean too. No gym clothes for us.
Randy and Eileen went to Atlanta, Georgia to visit Patty Schmidt Smith and to celebrate Eileen’s birthday. They had a great time and while the mother-daughter duo caught up on talking, Randy rambled around checking out grocery stores.
From there they traveled to Clemson, South Carolina to see Eileen’s brother Clint Barr and his wife Jan. Their Chihuahua dogs entertained everyone by making faces or they looked like they were changing expressions. One Chihuahua was old and the expressions made him look mean. Evidently since he is so little he feels the need to fight for his territory.
Anyone who is into sports knows of Clemson University. Randy says you can really tell it is a college town. He and /Eileen wandered into a huge hardware store to look around. He always is looking for something in the cooking world and they came across a barbecue sauce display and he was telling her about the items. Those who were working at the store had all offered their help. They might have wondered if this couple was into shoplifting since that seems to be a lucrative business at least in our area. That particular sauce had been bottled at the Allegro plant. Randy can always go into his sales pitch anytime someone is interested. The employees were either eager to learn or were just bored.
The next morning they stared home and in the rainy, foggy mess, Randy missed the highway he wanted to get on. Eileen was reading the map or trying to see it and they went straight up a mountain with no shoulders. At one point she told Randy she could not see anything on her side. He wished for me so I could enjoy seeing nothing but air. If we were in the 18-wheeler years ago I got in the sleeper and looked straight down the highway!
Eleanor (Tweeta) Hancock was laid to rest at the age of 81. I did not see her often but she always knew me and had a big smile on her face. Having lived most of her life in Huntington she retired from Boots Furniture, was a member of Huntington First Baptist Church where she taught Sunday School and was a good fisher-woman.
Surviving Tweeta are sons Phillip and Keith Hancock, daughter Monica Lambert, sister Jackie Morehead. Preceding her in death were parents Wade and Ezie Davis Kirkland, and sister Jo Ruth Wilkerson.